Destiny Upon Us
by xxCerezasxx
Summary: AU of the finale. Aang didn't defeat the Fire Lord, and Zuko and Katara need a new plan to save what's left of the world. Zutara
1. Part One

Destiny Upon Us

**Don't own Avatar in anyway**

* * *

Destiny Upon Us

Katara rushed to him, desperately, water enveloping her hands. She pressed the cool liquid to his chest, pressed the cold to the heat, the heat of pain and injury and fire, her own heart aching as she waited for him to breathe.

Gold eyes opened, like light permeating darkness, sun rising and brightening the blackness of night. Her heart stopped hurting, relief washing through her like waves through the sea. He was alright, _they_ were alright.

"Thank you Katara." He smiled weakly up at her, smiled even though he was the one that saved her. He put himself in danger for her when only days before she had hated him, had loathed him because of the fire that coursed through his veins and through his body. An evil sun within him that she had only recently learned was not evil at all.

"I think I'm the one that should be thanking you." She replied, she couldn't possibly explain her gratitude at that moment. He would have died for her, she could think of few people who would die for her, and an ex enemy wasn't one of them.

"Let's go find Aang and the others." He suggested, even though he could barely stand without cringing. His scarred but still handsome face tightened in pain with the effort of remaining on his feet.

When she could finally see land, the ache in her heart returned, the land was burning, glowing orange like the surface of the sun. The world was ending; Aang had failed.

She clung to Zuko, and they watched the world burn together.

* * *

"He couldn't do it." He said softly, warmth on his face as he leaned over the saddle, watching his element destroy everything he had wanted to save. People and animals and plants alike burned and eaten alive by destructive heat. "He needed to kill my father and he couldn't do it." He was angry, furious, he wanted to shoot his fire into the sky and vent his anger. He wanted to burn everything around him and punch and kick and release flames until all he could do was sleep. Sleep and dream and pretend that his world wasn't on fire, that it wasn't over, that everyone wasn't dead.

"He was too good of a person." Katara was crying, trails of tears on her face that he wanted to wipe away but couldn't. Because he was fire and she was water and he was afraid that she could blame him, blame him like she had blamed him for the death of her mother somehow.

"I know, I only wish I could have done it for him." He could have killed his father, Katara could have killed his father, anyone but Aang could have.

"What's the world going to do now?" Her tears had stopped, but her eyes shone with liquid sadness. Her water-like eyes damp with warm water that threatened to fall again at any moment.

"Wait until the new avatar is born, try again." There wasn't anything else they could do but try again, attempt their plan once more. Aang would be reborn and so would their plan, so would their hope to defeat the Fire Nation.

"Born into the Water Tribe." She whispered, and her hands drifted to her abdomen. Their eyes met, gold meeting blue, fire meeting water, he could almost hear the hiss of steam.

"You're Water Tribe." He said as though it were some kind of secret, he said it to reassure himself, to see if she was implying what he thought she was.

"I'm Water Tribe." She repeated, nodding, she meant what he thought she meant.

"But I'm not." He told her even though she knew; he didn't know if it could still work, if mixed nations would still create an avatar.

"We have to try." She pleaded, and she was right, they had to try.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said, there wasn't anything else to say, if they were to be together, it wasn't supposed to be this way.

But it was.

* * *

Zuko kissed her on the mouth, warm, warm like fire. Destructive fire that burned the world orange beneath them as Appa flew, flew towards the South Pole, the only land not bright with flames. His skin was hot; his hand cupped her cheek, fingers heated almost unbearably against her jaw.

He kissed her cheek, and his hand moved to her neck. He kissed her neck, and his hand undid her dress. When there was nothing left to kiss; they began their new plan.

Anything to save the world.

* * *

The South Pole was cold, his breath rose in wispy white tendrils with each exhale. He wore a parka, a blue parka, one Katara sewed for him their first night in the icy world. He had never worn blue before; he couldn't help but think he didn't look as good in the color as Katara did in red. They brought new hope to what was left of the planet with news of their plan, and they brought despair with the news of the fire that had ravaged what the Earthbenders had called home. There were few Earthbenders left, only the few who had managed to escape with some of the waterbenders. Haru was one of them; it was good to know a friend had survived the fire.

The inhabitants of the South Pole, the few that there were, moved with them to the North, to the security of numerous waterbenders and an impenetrable fortress. His father couldn't destroy what Zhao hadn't been able to defeat before, and he wouldn't want to, not as long as they never rebelled. If the Northern Water Tribe stayed in the North, they would never be thought of again.

He knew his father well enough to know that he would not crush what he already assumed was broken.

* * *

Pakku had not escaped the fire; she had lost a grandfather before she had known him. Her father had survived, somehow, survived along with Haru, by some grace of the spirits she wasn't going to question. She had lost a brother, she had lost most of her friends, but she had her father. Blessed relief in a hurting world.

Her stomach grew along with her hope, along with her people's hope, the only people left who dreamed of an end to the Fire Lord. Her child moved within her, first a gentle bump on her bronze abdomen, then a large swell, like a watermelon beneath her skin. The thought of carrying the avatar, the hope for what was left of the world, was overwhelming, but she would do all she could to save the world. She needed to succeed where she had failed. She would teach her child waterbending as she had always dreamed, and her child's father would teach it firebending. There would be no one to teach air, but the avatar could learn on its own, and she would help in anyway she could. She would love her child not because it was the avatar, nor because it was the reincarnation of Aang.

She would love it because it was hers, because it was her baby.

* * *

His son was born under a full moon, bright silver illuminating the snow. He watched Katara struggle, watched beads of sweat from exertion travel down her bronze skin. She was doing more for the world then he ever would, she was giving birth to the savior. He held her hand; he whispered soothing words of encouragement in her ear. It was all he could do. There wasn't love between them, not yet, but there was a bond. He cared for her more then anyone in the world, simply because, she was all he had left in the world, all he had left other than a few people he considered a little more then acquaintances. He didn't know what he was to her, but they slept beside each other every night, his heat keeping her warm, her kindness keeping him sane.

The baby was beautiful, _his_ baby was beautiful. Ebony hair, _his_ ebony hair, and dark skin, fair, bronze skin, Katara's skin. When his son was swaddled in a blue blanket, protected from the cold, he opened his eyes. His eyes were blue, Katara blue, and he felt a brief disappointment when he knew the baby wasn't the avatar. He didn't see the spark, the gleam; his heart didn't jump in his chest. Rather, a strange, overwhelming sense of fatherly pride struck him like a bolt of lightning, a bolt of lightning he didn't want to redirect.

"I don't think he's…."

"I know." Katara said, distracted, their newborn son clutching one of her long, slender fingers in his chubby little fist. Her eyes were alive with motherly love and affection and tenderness, he couldn't see disappointment anywhere. She loved the baby like he'd always thought she would. She kissed the tip of their son's nose, brushing her lips over the baby-soft skin like he could remember his mother doing to him as a child.

"I guess we won't be naming him Aang."

"No, I think Iroh would be just fine." Her words stunned him, and a smile formed on his face as he lifted the tiny baby he'd helped create into his arms.

"Sokka would be appropriate too." He offered, because she'd lost her brother while he'd lost his uncle, and in the end, her brother had died years before he was meant to.

"We could always name our next son Sokka." She said absently, leaning back against the pillows, drifting off into well deserved sleep. He didn't ask about her remark, that would be for later.

"What about the avatar?" He asked instead, cradling his son awkwardly, the first baby that he had ever held.

Katara gestured a bronze hand towards the door, towards the city.

"It's been nine months Zuko, all the people of the Water Tribe are here, we'll find him or her soon enough."

"And until then?" He didn't know what they were now that their plan had failed, what they were supposed to do.

"We raise our son." Hope would come later, until then, he and Katara had a new plan.

To raise their son, to love someone in the world where fire had almost destroyed the very emotion.

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**Reviews would make me very happy, and they would encourage me to write more.**


	2. Part Two

**I do not own Avatar in any way, shape, or form**

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Iroh's soft cries pulled Katara from her sleep, dreams of peace shattered and pushed aside for the needs of her child

Iroh's soft cries pulled Katara from her sleep, dreams of peace shattered and pushed aside for the needs of her child. The moon shone brightly in the clear night sky, faint silver rays of light illuminated the path to her son. It was good to know that one friend, Yue, could never be taken away by the fire that had ravaged everything. She and the Water Tribe would die before they allowed the moon spirit to be killed again. But she would lose the moon before she would lose her son. Her desires had been put in entirely new perspectives.

"Shhh, it's alright sweetheart." She cooed quietly, cradling her infant, mothering her baby the way she had mothered her brother and Aang and occasionally Toph. She had often thought after she had found Aang that her destiny had been to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord, but now, she was certain it was to be a mother.

"Mmmm, is something wrong?" Zuko's voice was soft and curious and sleepy as she settled into bed beside him, propping herself up against the pillows.

"No, we're fine." She assured, pulling the left side of her robe away, the chilly air sending shivers down her spine and goose bumps across her skin. She noticed how Zuko looked away when her breast was exposed and she brought their child to it, as though he hadn't seen her breasts once before, as though he had to look away to preserve her modesty.

"Good." He nodded, his golden gaze fixed on the icy ceiling.

"You don't need to look away Zuko, it's okay." She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when he turned to face her. His eyes were soft and sweet and apologetic.

"I wasn't sure if it was what you wanted." He explained, considering and caring and the polar opposite of his element.

Iroh let out a loud cry when he finished eating, demanding attention and affection.

"Sometimes I can't believe I want three of these." She laughed, rocking her arms gently, watching her blue eyed little boy drift off to sleep.

"You want three?"

"I always had fun growing up with Sokka but sometimes I thought it would have been nice to have another sibling." It was the first time they had discussed intimate information, their first slow, awkward step towards something greater than friendship. "You never decided how many children you wanted?"

"I was only expected to produce an heir for the Fire Nation, a son or daughter to take the throne. I never planned on a number. Three's good though, I'm sure you'll…." He paused and scanned her face thoughtfully, liquid fire eyes seemingly searching her spirit. "You'll find someone to have…"

She leaned forward and kissed him, and was relieved when he kissed her back.

* * *

Warm sunlight shone in through the open windows, heating his face, awakening the sun within him. He woke to find Katara sprawled out beside him on her stomach, blankets down below the small of her back, smooth bronze skin gleaming in the morning light. He slipped out of bed carefully, to prevent from waking her, the icy floor cold beneath his bare feet. He warmed himself quickly, sending waves of heat through his body to stay off the cold of the snow. He could never sleep long past the rise of the sun, his element beckoned him.

"Good morning Iroh." He greeted his smiling, one year old, lifted the child, _his _child up and into his arms. A year had passed since the birth of his and Katara's son, the son who hadn't been the avatar but better because he was theirs and he gave them hope in a world where hope had almost been destroyed. Their child had brought them together, given them a purpose after losing sight of their original goal. They would have been lost without a plan to follow, succumbed to the despair and their own emotions without the pleasant distraction of their child. Without the baby, their futures would have been entirely different, he would have drifted through what was left of the Earth Kingdom, she would have returned home with her father and grandmother.

"Dada." Hearing the word itself felt like redemption, like his past decisions didn't matter because the spirits had decided he deserved to be loved by someone after the death of the only person in the world who had still loved him. It was only a coincidence that in both cases he was loved by someone named Iroh.

"Let's go see Appa before you wake your mother." He wanted to let Katara sleep; she did so much for them, for him. She had been a mother years beyond her time, a mother to everyone, and now she was a mother to a child of her own. Well deserved rest for a daughter of the moon and sea.

He watched his son toddle unsteadily in the snow, the picture perfect Water Tribe child. Blue eyes, and dark skin, and dark hair, a child he had never imagined having. In his mind his son had always had dark hair and pale skin and amber eyes, fire on the inside and out. He was looking forward to watching his son learn to waterbend, to use an element of healing and love and renewed life. After the night of the comet, he sometimes had a hard time believing fire could bring life rather than destroy it.

The ice cold air burned his lungs with each inhale, numbed every inch of his exposed skin. He lit a flame in his hands, bright orange and yellow, a pleasant little fire that warmed his heart and warmed his body.

"Fire." His son's water-like eyes were alive with elation and wonder, and a bronze, chubby hand touched the fire before he could extinguish it. Panic flooded him like high tide on the beach, and he waited for the cry of pain, the cry that would send an ache of sympathy and guilt through his heart, but instead Iroh giggled. His son held a small bit of the flame in his dark palm, no more than the flicker of a candle, a tiny amount of fire for his supposed little waterbender.

He scooped his child up, pressed a proud kiss to his baby-soft forehead, and rushed off to show Katara.

* * *

"Iroh's little friend Anchee is the avatar." She told Zuko one evening, her body trembling with excitement and hope and delayed shock. Aang had been reborn in the form of a sweet two year old Water Tribe girl, the world had another chance.

"Are you sure?" Zuko shook snow out of his ebony hair; it fell to the floor in soft, white flakes.

"She sneezed."

"I sneeze, I'm not the avatar."

"She sneezed like Aang used to sneeze." She waited for the realization to sink in, for the knowledge that the world wasn't lost to settle in his stomach the way a rock settled at the bottom of the ocean. Her life suddenly had hope again, not hope for herself, but hope for the others who had died and perished in the seemingly endless fire. She was happy with her own life, but there were many who weren't, and she had made a promise to Aang only two years ago that she was going to help restore that happiness to the innocent.

"I'll teach Anchee and Iroh firebending together when they're old enough." He said to her, as though she didn't already know that he would do anything to repair what his father had broken and burned and scorched.

"And I'll teach her waterbending."

"Not now." Zuko's hand on the swell of her stomach made her smile.

"No." She agreed. "Not now."

Pure, unbridled happiness flitted through her body when Zuko moved to press his ear to the spot where his hand had been moments before.

* * *

Their daughter was born when the sun was at its highest in the sky, the white world illuminated. There was no hope lurking in the corner of his mind as he let Katara grip his hand, her nails piercing the skin of his palm, the sting so sharp he had to bite his lip to keep from telling her to let go. There wasn't a chance this baby would be the avatar, that hope was non-existent now, there was only anticipation towards seeing the face of his second child. The second child he had never thought he'd have, the second child Katara was kind enough to give him. He and Mai had discussed children once, she had said they were "annoying little urchins".

He had another Water Tribe child, with the same dark hair and dark skin but with one difference. His daughter's eyes were gold, pools of liquid fire, mirror images of his own. Another beautiful baby he'd helped create, another reason to thank the spirits for his escape from the fire that had killed so many.

"Hello my little Kaya." Katara murmured when she cradled their daughter close to her heart. The heart that he was lucky enough to have a place in, maybe not for love yet, but something above friendship, and that something was more then he'd had in a long time. "Thank you Zuko, thank you so much for giving me our children." He couldn't understand why she was thanking him, she had given him a family after he had lost all of his.

"You did all the work." Was all he could say, his mind unable to form words, clouded by the happiness that enveloped his body like the heat of the fire within him. He had always been told that his fire was an extension of his spirit, and if that was true, then Katara and Iroh and Kaya were his fire now.

"I don't want to interrupt, but there's someone out here who is dying to meet his new brother or sister." Haru called from behind the closed door.

"Let him in." The door opened and Iroh ran to him as fast as his chubby two year old legs could carry him.

"Can I see baby?" Iroh whispered shyly, hiding his face in the fabric of Zuko's pants.

"This is Kaya Iroh, your little sister."

The world wasn't any less dangerous, but it was a bit easier to bear.

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**I would like to say thank you to all the people who reviewed the first chapter, you all inspired me to want to continue this. And I know this chapter was reminiscent of the first, but it has a point, and there is more of a plot in the next part, I promise. **

**I would love to know what you thought.**


	3. Part Three

**Don't own Avatar in any way**

**I would like to thank Lucrezia6565 and Ashen Phoenix for their encouragement, but also all of you who have reviewed, it means alot to me.**

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Katara swirled streams of water above her palm, bending the liquid into random shapes

Katara swirled streams of water above her palm, bending the liquid into random shapes. Kaya's golden eyes followed the water in utter fascination and wonder, delight flickering through the tiny suns as her small hand reached for her element. A small orb of the clear liquid balanced above her chubby fingers, attempting to mimic Katara's manipulations. Kaya's efforts were rewarded with a misshapen circle, and she proudly held up her bending achievement.

"Look mommy!" Her three year old daughter squealed in elation, her voice as bright as the fire shining in her amber eyes.

"I see Kaya, that's very good." She had often imagined watching her children waterbend; the reality was better than the fantasy. "I'm so proud of you." She had taught waterbending once before, she'd taught it to Aang with the hope of saving the world, but there had been a deep feeling of urgency that had corrupted the purity of teaching, like a handful of sand could taint drinking water.

"When are you gonna teach me bending like daddy teaches Iroh?" Kaya began to move her little bit of water through the air; it sparkled as it caught the rays of the sun.

"When you're older." The youngest years of childhood were meant to be innocent and carefree, the only lessons needed were to walk and talk and be familiar with the basic alphabet. She had lost her childhood early in life; fate would not repeat itself with her children.

"I'm free, I'm big." Kayla held up three small fingers and the water splashed wetly onto her head, her dark braids damp. "Oops." Her daughter's laugh was a sweeter sound than rain on the ocean.

"Here, let me show you a trick." With a flick of her wrist, the water left Kaya's hair. "The key is to focus all your….."

"Mommy." Iroh burst through the front door crying, large tears rolling down his face. She wanted to run to him and scoop him up, cuddle him close and comfort him the way she used to, but the familiar swell of her stomach prevented her from doing more then bending his tears away as he sat beside her and buried his face in her shoulder.

"What happened?" She scanned his hands and face and body for burns, for red patches of skin that she would scold Zuko for later.

"Daddy loves Anchee more than me." Iroh said sadly, as though he honestly believed it. Her little boy who looked so much like his father doubted his father's love. Iroh didn't know of Zuko's resolve to be the opposite of his father, to bring peace and love rather then death and war and destruction.

"Who told you that?" She almost laughed, almost laughed because children could believe the most impossible things.

"Nobody." Iroh blushed and wiped at his cheek when Kaya kissed it.

"Then why would you think that?"

"Cause Anchee's the avatar and she's a better firebender than me. He teaches her things he won't teach me." It was simple jealousy, she had gone through the same phase with Aang, history repeated itself in strange ways.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't love you sweetheart. Some people just learn faster than others. You will learn on your own time, and your father will always be there to teach you. He loves you very much; we both love you very much. Our little sun." She kissed his forehead; he was warm like fire and smelled sweetly of smoke. "Go back out and practice with your father."

He scampered back out into the snow, and the world seemed a bit brighter.

* * *

"You take a breath" Zuko inhaled deeply. "and channel the energy through your arm until…" A burst of hot, orange fire shot from his palm into the air, heating his skin and the surrounding area. "you get fire."

"Like this?" Iroh took an exaggerated breath; his small chest puffed out, and released a stream of fire from his bronze hand, yellow and orange flames mixed together to form one steady fire.

"Just like that." He ruffled his son's dark hair the way he had always wished his father would back when he was a child. Even when his father had claimed to love him, he had been emotionally distant and physically absent. His only hugs had come from his mother or Uncle Iroh, and Azula before she had grown old enough to understand evil and adapt it as her nature.

"Is it true that you and mommy fought here afore?" Iroh asked, big blue eyes shining with liquid curiosity, a few beads of sweat on his dark brow from the pleasant heat of the atmosphere and the intense hotness of their fire.

"Once, but I deserved it." The grass of the Spirit Oasis tickled the bottoms of his bare feet, and he watched Kaya splash in the warm water out of the corner of his eye. She moved through the liquid gracefully, her dark braids and hair loopies never coming unraveled as she laughed and was chased by the moon spirit fish.

"Did you forget her birthday?"

"Something like that." He would explain the truth when his children were older and the Fire Lord was defeated. He let his shirt fall to the ground as he prepared to demonstrate more complicated firebending forms, he had burned the sleeves of his last trying to show Anchee how to do fire fists. "Take off your shirt before you set it on fire Iroh or your mother is going to be very upset with me."

"Will she fight you?" He could have sworn Iroh looked hopeful.

"No."

"Who won the fight?"

"Mommy did." Kaya bent a stream of water at them, warm and wet and refreshing.

"No mommy didn't win."

"So you won?" Iroh cocked his head to the side, confused.

"Not exactly." Technically they had each won a different part of the fight, so combined it was a tie.

"Don't listen to him, I won." Katara joined them in the only spot of warmth that wasn't controlled by the Fire Nation, little Ursa balanced on her hip.

"Because you cheated." He took his youngest daughter into his arms, gazing into the familiar blue eyes that belonged to Katara and Iroh and now Ursa. "Your mother cheats kids; she used the full moon instead of her abilities."

"And you used the sun, we're even." Katara shed her dress and slipped into the water with Kaya, her undergarments as white as snow. "Unless the kids would like to see a rematch."

Iroh and Kaya cheered, and water and fire combined once more.

* * *

The chill of snow against her skin sent shivers through her body like ripples over the surface of water. The cold was delightful and unpleasant, reminiscent of happy times with Sokka and Gran-Gran and her parents. Days of frolicking in the icy cold, tumbling and chasing and bending. But memories of happiness brought sorrow, sorrow for the people that had been lost. Her mother and her brother. Two family members who had both perished in fire, burnt flesh and burnt bodies and charred spirits. She could still smell the world burning in her nightmares, a strong and heavy ashy scent, flesh and wood burning together.

"What're you doing out here?" Zuko asked softly, his dark hair hidden beneath the hood of his blue parka. Fourteen years and she still wasn't accustomed to the sight of Zuko in blue, the color of her element, the opposite of his.

"Just thinking." She moved until her back was pressed against Zuko's chest, his warm arms found their way around her waist out of habit. He radiated heat like the sun. "How's Anchee's firebending?" Time had passed, long amounts of time, and she wanted peace soon, wanted freedom and justice for all those who had died or wished they had.

"Good, I don't know how much more I can teach her." One of his hands found hers, their fingers locking together, hot skin met cold flesh, water and fire touching.

"And Iroh's firebending?"

"Great." There was pride in Zuko's voice now, and she knew without looking that he was smiling. A flash of white teeth and satisfaction. He had rarely smiled when they traveled with Aang, but now it was a daily occurrence. "He's better than I was at that age, he's better than Anchee too. I think it's because it's his natural element. How's Anchee's waterbending?"

"She qualifies as a master."

"Is Kaya better?"

"She is." Zuko's chest rumbled with laughter against her back, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. They were so close to saving the world. "How is Ursa's firebending?"

"It could be better, but I'm looking forward to a few more years of lessons." There was a fond note in his voice, a sweet cherishment over more time with their youngest child.

"We may have to have another baby so I can have someone else to teach waterbending too." She teased, resting her head against his shoulder. They had spent their teenage years and early adulthood being parents to toddlers, as much as those days were missed, another baby would only come when the world was safe again.

"I'll probably just be a firebender."

"Maybe, Zuko, if we're going to try the plan again, Anchee needs to learn earthbending." The light conversation turned serious, it wasn't how she wanted to spend the afternoon, but it needed to be done.

"I talked to Haru, he said there are some islands a weeks fly on Appa from here that are uninhabited and escaped the fire during the comet."

"When do we leave?"

"A few days, I think the kids will love actual land."

"You hate the snow." She chuckled, she could see through his façade, fourteen years and she had come to know him like she knew herself, maybe better.

"I hate the snow." He agreed, laughing again. "Where are the kids?"

"Iroh and Anchee are out bending at the Spirit Oasis and Kaya and Ursa are fishing with my father."

"Fishing? I think that gives us about an hour before they return." She recognized the playful lit to his voice and the heat of his mouth against her ear.

"I'll race you to the house."

She froze his feet to the ground before starting to run.

* * *

The feel of naturally warm air felt foreign on his face, the feel of solid ground that didn't crunch beneath his feet was something he had almost forgotten. The smell of grass and flowers and trees, fresh and sweet, flooded his senses with each inhale, it was almost dizzying, and his children seemed overwhelmed and mystified and astounded. It was bitter to think they had been forced to live their lives in the snow and ice, without the freedom to choose to visit the mainland. His father had done more than take lives and destroy humanity, he had forced his children to lives of isolation in the north, never knowing the wonders of earth and plants and all the animals associated with them. His father had deprived his children, and that was somehow worse than everything else.

"Look, a flower!" Ursa plucked the simple red flower from the dirt, and Katara put it in her dark brown hair, directly above her right hair loopie. Both his daughters had adopted Katara's traditional hairstyle, but Ursa was the only one with Katara's hair color.

"It's so warm here." Kaya removed her parka and promptly climbed the nearest tree, swirling water above her head for amusement as she reclined in the branches.

"Let's go look around before you start your earthbending training." Iroh tried to make the suggestion sound casual, he and Anchee walked off slowly, Iroh a bit closer to her than when they had been standing.

"I'm going to go earthbend, it's been too long." Haru sent a rock out into the sea, bending for the first time in nearly fifteen years. "That feels good." He grinned, green eyes truly alive, as green as the grass and the plants and the leaves of the trees.

"Can I watch you bend Haru?" Ursa blushed, her cheeks burning bright and red and hot, infatuated with the earthbender.

"Sure." Haru gave an amused and worried frown when Ursa attached herself to his leg.

"Maybe we should tell Ursa Haru is too old for her?" Katara was doubled over with laughter, bronze hands clutching at her sides as she shook with laughter. He failed to see the humor in the situation; his daughter was too young for childish infatuations. "Lighten up Zuko." Katara kissed the corner of his mouth, turned his frown into a smile. "I had a crush on Haru once." He couldn't tell if she was teasing him, but it didn't seem to matter.

It felt like the world truly had hope again.

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**If you read, please review.**

**Also, the next chapter will be the last.**


	4. Part Four

**I do not own Avatar, at all, sadly.**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed, I probably never would have continued this without you.**

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Zuko watched as Anchee hurled a large rock at Iroh

Zuko watched as Anchee hurled a large rock at Iroh. His son pushed boulder away with a strong blast of fire, yellow and orange flames erupting from his bronze palms. He could feel the sweltering heat on his face even from a distance, could smell the sweet smoke and the ash from when the fire hit wood and grass. The two teenagers fought ruthlessly, aggressively, stray droplets of water landing on his face, fire and earth and ice flying dangerously in all directions. He dodged several rocks and blocked several streams of fire, he was as sweaty and out of breath as the teenagers by the time the fight was over.

Anchee had mastered earthbending in their three years on the island. Three years of warm sunlight, fresh air tinged with the aroma of flowers and grass, and solid ground that wasn't covered in cold snow. He had eaten fruit for the first time in years, sweet, ripe fruit that hadn't been dried or preserved, with juice that dribbled down his chin and made his hands and the skin around his mouth sticky. Ursa had taken a liking to wild peaches, her breath and her hair and her skin smelling constantly of the sugary fruit. Kaya had developed a love of flowers, a bright, colorful plant always in her dark hair or tucked behind her ear. Iroh appeared to be the only one of his children who was indifferent to the change in landscape, but he had a feeling that Iroh would be happy to live anywhere as long as Anchee lived there with him.

The fight ended in a tie, Iroh with a flame to Anchee's throat, and Anchee with an icicle to Iroh's. They both laughed afterwards, happy and carefree, white smiles standing out against bronze skin. Their fights always ended in a laugh, in a smile, because their battles had no bloodshed, no spatters of crimson on clothes or flesh. The final battle would not end in flashes of teeth and the murmuring of compliments, it would end in death. What hurt the most was the knowledge that he wasn't sure whose death it would be. It would either be his father's, or his family's.

"It's been seventeen years Zuko." Katara whispered into his ear late one night as he stared up at the dark night sky. The stars shone like the flames of candles in the distance, white hot candles that cast a brilliant, but faint light. The land would be endless blackness without the silver glow of the moon.

"I know." He wasn't sure how else to respond, he knew, and he knew the direction the conversation was heading.

"Seventeen years is a long time." She kissed his bare shoulder, her lips cool and soft over his skin, like soothing water moving over burned and heated flesh.

"Eighteen is longer." He offered without the hope that she would agree. She was right, and he was eager to repair the damage done to the world. He only wished their children weren't part of the plan, that they weren't needed to redeem the Fire Nation and bring hope back from the ashes.

"I'd prefer twenty, but we owe it to…..to everyone." Everyone was Sokka and Aang and Toph and Iroh and Suki, everyone was family and friends and innocent men and women and children. They owed it to anyone who had existed before the inferno that had raged and turned soil and plant and flesh to ash. Plants and forests would re-grow from the soot, their life seemingly eternal, but people were gone. The airbenders and the earthbenders had been wiped out by destructive fire, lives burned away in billowing clouds of dark smoke and hot flames.

"We'll tell them tomorrow." He moved in to kiss her, but the hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Mom, Dad….can I…" Ursa toyed shyly with the end of her braid, the flushing of her cheeks visible in the moonlight. "Can I….sleep with you two tonight? I know I'm twelve but…" He couldn't stay the smile that warmed his jaw muscles.

"Of course honey, you don't need to give us a reason." Katara scooted away from him, one of his other favorite women taking her place.

"Goodnight Dad, Mom." His little girl yawned, blue eyes closed in sleep.

Content and drowsy inside the sleeping bag, he prayed to the spirits that that moment wouldn't be his last of happiness.

* * *

"Isn't this the plan you and Mom tried last time you tried to defeat the Fire Lord?" Iroh interrupted Zuko as he explained, worry shining her son's blue eyes. He was afraid the results would be the same.

"Yes, but the last plan didn't work because Aang, the previous avatar, couldn't kill the Fire Lord." Katara said the last part softly, gave Anchee a reassuring squeeze of her hand. Anchee was seventeen, five years older then Aang had been, and five times more able to kill Ozai because she knew that violence was acceptable under certain circumstances. Aang had been too young, he had wanted to stay too innocent, but innocence didn't belong in war and he hadn't understood that. Innocence and morals were corrupted in the battles and the bloodshed.

"I can do it, don't worry." Anchee's blue eyes shone with determination and a slight hesitance that was understandable. It took courage and resolve and occasionally hate to take another life, even if taking that life was for the best of the world, it would still hurt in the morning.

"Mom, isn't it wrong to kill people?" Ursa asked quietly from her spot next to Haru.

"It is, but sometimes, for the good of the world, a life must be taken." Zuko answered the question for her, his response better then hers would have been.

"Oh." Ursa nodded and moved closer to Haru.

"We leave today, Haru, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" They could use an earthbender, the more people there were increased their chances.

"I'm the last earthbender, if I die, so do my people. Besides, this seems like more of a family event." She agreed with him, losing the last earthbender would set the world back years, would throw off what little balance the earth had left. "I'll be here when you return." His smile was bright, but his green eyes flashed with doubt, he wasn't sure if they would return, she wasn't sure they would either.

"We'll come back." She and Zuko might not; however, she would make sure her children did. "Goodbye Haru." She hugged him, embraced her last friend from the time when war had raged their homes but they had still managed to be happy and have hope. Ursa blew Haru a kiss as they flew away. They moved through the sky slowly, Appa was older now, much older, and though she didn't know the life span of a flying bison, Appa was nearing his journey to the spirit world. She wanted Appa to live in a world that was free before he died.

The world wasn't on fire when they flew above it, her first sight of a large mass of land in seventeen years, her children's first ever. She had been half expecting the flames to be raging, the smoke thick and choking, animals and plants and people still burning, the heat intense even from the air. Instead, there was grass and there were trees, but there weren't Earth Kingdom citizens, only Fire Nation. In its own way the world was on fire once again.

She and Zuko hugged each of their children when they landed, solid ground beneath their feet that did little to make the moment any easier. The hugs and the kisses and the touches, the smoothing down of her son's hair and the fixing of her daughters' braids and hair loopies were a kind of goodbye.

The goodbyes hurt more then an injury ever would, it was as though she was admitting she would never see her children again.

* * *

"Well, well, well Zuko." His father began, his father who looked the same as he always had, a bit more grey in his hair but no less frightening. "Water Tribe children? You're more of a disgrace then I thought." His father shook his head and feigned disappointment, feigned disappointment because he didn't care what Zuko did in his life unless it involved dying, and his father would be thrilled if he did. "That one doesn't even look like you" Ozai studied Anchee's face with apathy. "but it's what you get when you're with a water whore." He bristled at the comment, his temper getting the best of him once more as his hands heated themselves with a will of their own, smoke blowing from his nose each time he exhaled. Iroh had the same reaction, blue eyes flashing dangerously, and a rush of pride struck him like a bolt of lightening. "As much as I have enjoyed this reunion Zuko.." His father never finished his sentence, the fire from his hands and the fire from the imperial firebenders said more then words could.

The battle progressed as he imagined it would, in a fast paced blur of orange, yellow, and red flames and streams of clear water and chunks of ice. He killed firebender after firebender, killed the men who were his people without remorse because they would kill his children without a second thought, kill Katara without blinking if he allowed them to live. Bodies dropped, burned bodies and frozen bodies and bodies with icicles protruding from their skin. He fought side by side with Katara, as they were supposed to have fought seventeen years ago. In the corner of his eye he watched Kaya and Iroh and Anchee dodge and stop his father's flames with fire and water, distracting him until Anchee had the right moment, the opportunity to end his father's life with whichever element she wanted, fire or water or earth. It was when Anchee caught fire and retaliated with water that his father stopped fighting, and laughed a cold laugh that sent shivers down his spine.

"The avatar? My isn't this my lucky day, I get to kill you twice." Ozai held up a hand and the soldiers stopped fighting as well. "Your past life was too weak to kill me, what about you? Can you kill me?"

"I'm going to try." Anchee tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and the fighting resumed.

"Dad?" The frightened note in Ursa's voice sent panic through him, the fire in his hands flickered out and the water manipulated by Katara's fell to the ground, splashing loudly against the pavement.

"Azula." He had been waiting for his sister to make an appearance, but not one that involved her hand around Ursa's braid and her other cupping his youngest child's face. Azula's long, sharp nails pressed against the bronze skin of Ursa's lower jaw, not cutting the flesh but so close to drawing blood.

"Hello Zuzu." Azula applied more pressure and Ursa winced, tears threatening to spill from her big blue eyes. "Such a darling little girl Zuko, looks nothing like you." Kaya and Iroh and Anchee were still fighting with his father, there was a large, sudden burst of orange across the courtyard.

"Let my daughter go." Katara growled, like a mother bear did when her cubs were threatened.

"I wasn't talking to you wench." Azula continued to study Ursa's face. "Tell me dearie" She crooned, cold and calculating and manipulative. "What's your element?" He could tell from the gleam in Azula's amber eyes that she thought she already knew. Azula had looked at his daughter's Water Tribe color hair and Water Tribe color skin and Water Tribe eyes and assumed his daughter was Water Tribe in every conceivable way. She thought his daughter was a waterbender, and there wasn't any water within bending reach.

"Fire." Ursa's words were accompanied by a stream of fire, fire that Azula wasn't expecting and didn't have time to stop or dodge or even react to. She cried out in rage and pain and fury, and there was the distinct smell of burnt flesh and singed hair and Ursa was free and running towards them as fast as she could. "Mom!" Ursa threw herself into Katara's open arms; he moved in and kissed the top of her head, his attention drawn to his eldest children.

He turned just in time to see Kaya freeze Ozai's feet to the ground and Anchee stab an icicle into his father's back. The sharp end of the ice protruded from the front of his father's chest, a trail of red dripping down Ozai's pale skin. He reached back for Ursa, but found Katara already had a hand clapped over the twelve year old girl's eyes. His father wasn't dead, no, in the throes of death, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as he sent a weak stream of fire at Anchee that she dodged with ease, a jagged rock lodging itself in Ozai's chest beside the icicle. His father attempted to summon another flame from his dying body, but Anchee sent a gust of wind that blew him into a wall where he sunk to the floor, finally dead, the world finally free.

"It's alright Katara." He said softly, in disbelief, his body in shock as he found Katara's wrist and lowered her hand, allowed Ursa to see. "It's over." Katara embraced him suddenly and kissed him, a kiss of celebration, their tongues meeting warmly and touching; he heard Ursa giggle and it took him a minute to realize she wasn't giggling at them. When he and Katara parted, he saw that Iroh and Anchee's lips were sealed together as his and Katara's had been. It seemed appropriate; Aang had never gotten Katara, now Anchee had his son.

It was funny how fate worked out.

* * *

"So…" She took Zuko's hand in hers, the hand that was still warm from the fire he had been using to fight with. "How's it feel to be Fire Lord Zuko?" She watched her three children sit with their backs against one of the walls of the courtyard and rest. Kaya sat with Ursa in front of her as she redid her younger sister's braid, slender bronze fingers nimbly weaving the strands of dark hair together. Iroh was attempting to fix Kaya's hair loopies, and Anchee was laughing at his poor hair styling skills. They seemed not to understand the gravity of the situation, because they had never lived a world that was free, they had only known the cold of the North and the carefree days of running among the ice and the restrictions of never being allowed to leave the snow. They had never known the world before and couldn't be excited about the return because to them, everything was new and unfamiliar.

"It feels great." Zuko pointed a hand at something off in the distance. "Who're they?"

"Haru! Hi Haru!" Ursa squealed and called out, darting up and off the ground before Kaya could finish her hair, the perfect half of a braid coming undone, her dark hair loose and flowing. It _was_ Haru, Haru and a group of people, about twenty or so. She wasn't going to ask how he'd gotten off the island, she was simply glad to see him.

"Haru…." Her words caught in her throat when she caught sight of the men and women with Haru. They had green eyes, green eyes and olive skin and brown hair, they were Earth Kingdom, earthbenders, the fire hadn't destroyed everyone.

"Turns out the islands weren't all uninhabited." He smiled at her, a cheerful smile on a cheerful day. "Fire Lord Zuko" Haru bowed and Zuko laughed. "What're you going to do now?"

"Well…" Zuko wrapped his arm around her waist. "If I'm going to be Fire Lord, I'm going to need a Fire Lady." Zuko gave her hips a squeeze. "That means we'll have to get married Katara." He added as an afterthought, and she couldn't help but smile. Seventeen years and three children and he was finally asking the question.

It was a beautiful day for the beginning of the world.

* * *

**So this is the end, yes, please review if you read, and I might be tempted to write something again. ;)**


	5. Part Five

**I know this was orginally finished, but I felt it deserved an epilogue. I apologize for the wait, school started.**

* * *

The white marble was cool beneath his fingers and palms as he leaned against the balcony, his gaze drawn towards the palace garden

The white marble was cool beneath his fingers and palms as he leaned against the balcony, his gaze drawn towards the palace garden. The water of the fountain caught sunlight and the droplets sparkled, twinkling brightly in the daytime like tiny stars or flickering flames. Some of the best memories of his childhood were spent in the garden, running through the trees and picking flowers for his mother, blushing when she kissed his cheek and tucked a bright, vibrant flower in her hair. There were even good memories with Azula locked within his mind, back when she had been young and evil was a concept of their imagination, limited to Water Tribe scum and Earth Kingdom barbarians. It hurt to think his children had been robbed of the opportunity to play where every royal child of the Fire Nation had a right to be.

"Cut it out! Ah, Ursa, help!" Kaya sent a stream of water at Iroh and knocked him into the fountain with a splash, Iroh's hair and clothes were suddenly damp and sticking to his body like a second skin. Steam rose from his exposed bronze flesh as he attempted to dry himself with his bending, but Kaya and Anchee were relentless in their assault. The water in the fountain was frozen as Iroh stood and his feet were stuck in the clear ice. Zuko watched the "battle" unfold with a smile, trying to remain impartial when Ursa sent a fireball at her sister and tried in vain to pull Iroh from the ice. "It's too late, go on without me Ursa, you're young…" Iroh clutched his chest dramatically and fell back when the ice returned to water. He was reminded of similar games he'd played as a child, but where the one "dead" was always the child forced to be either Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom and often possessed minor burns from Azula's not entirely playful attacks.

There was a flash of orange and yellow and Kaya dove into the fountain beside Iroh to avoid the impressive flame Ursa had sent in her direction. One of Kaya's braids came undone and the hair on the right side of her face hung limp and wild, her red hair ribbon floating on the surface of the clear water. Iroh took advantage of Kaya's dilemma to steal her second hair ribbon, held them both tauntingly as she attempted to keep her hair somewhat controlled.

"Give those back." At fourteen Kaya's one vanity was her hair; it had to be perfect, done in flawless braids and hair loopies.

"No." Iroh taunted and burned them in a flicker of orange and a puff of grey smoke.

"Son of a bitch!" Kaya tackled her seventeen year old brother and Ursa's mouth fell open at the use of the profanity, her blue eyes big, round, astonished circles of blue.

"Kaya!" Kaya had inherited both his and Katara's tempers, as had all their children; it made their childhood fights things to be afraid of. Iroh and Kaya had come home from playing one day with burnt clothes and singed hair, skin crusted with ice and scratches from icicles.

"Sorry dad." Kaya let Iroh up and he tied her hair back himself with a strip of red cloth he ripped from his shirt. It was the first time his son had worn the color of his element, his children were finally free to choose and their clothing was a combination between Water Tribe blues and Fire Nation red and gold. He watched his children and the girl who was like his daughter bend for a few more moments before turning until his back was towards the garden and he leaned against the balcony for support.

"Hello Zuko." The familiar voice made his heart lurch painfully in his chest, because he hadn't heard the voice in years and hadn't thought about the person it belonged to in almost as long.

"Mei, it's good to see you, I thought they would have let you out of prison before now." Mei looked no different then she had years before, older and taller but still recognizably Mei.

"No, it turns out being related to the warden can only get a person so much." She smiled at him, a soft, reassuring smile that almost made him feel guilty. Guilty because he didn't love her and hadn't loved her but she thought he did.

"Being prince of the Fire Nation didn't make the last eighteen years of my life any easier." His life had been peaceful and quaint, a small house in the North with three children and a lovely woman, the simple life of a peasant, the opposite of what a prince's life should be. He found that he wouldn't trade the enjoyable existence for anything other then the lives of the millions who had perished and the lives of his friends. The fire was a tragedy of history, a vicious murder that killed millions in intense heat and burning flames, but had it not been for the fire, there was a chance his children would be nonexistent and his life would be empty.

"Your life is easy now." She leaned into kiss him and he moved his face so that her lips pressed to the skin of his left cheek. Her mouth was smooth and warm but little else, just a dull pressure against his lower jaw. "Zuko…" Mei's dark eyes shone bright with confusion and he turned her until she was gazing down at the garden.

"Those are my children. That's my son" He pointed a hand at Iroh, who was halfway through an advanced fire bending technique, blue eyes gleaming with concentration, his bronze skin glowing warmly in the sunlight. "my eldest daughter" Kaya waved up at them and smiled, golden eyes burning like suns, ebony hair back in braids. "and my youngest." Ursa blushed and covered her face, hiding water blue eyes and what was nearly Katara's face.

"Oh." Mei's expression was one of discontent and indifference. "They're beautiful." Mei's tone was thick with apathy, and he was glad once more that his children were half Katara rather than half Mei. "Well, I'll see you Zuko." He doubted that he would ever see her again and he found that he didn't care as much as he thought he should have.

Katara approached from behind, placed her hand over his, and he couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be.

* * *

"What happened with your father's body and Azula?" Katara asked softly as she curled closer to Zuko in bed. The red silk sheets felt like liquid against her skin.

"My father was burned and poured into the ocean." She understood without being Fire Nation that scattering Ozai's ashes into the sea was a sign of disgrace. It would be like a Water Tribe member being buried on land rather then sent to drift among the ocean or an Earth Kingdom citizen cremated instead of buried in their element.

"And your sister?" She gently kissed his bare, heated shoulder blade.

"In prison, Ursa burned the right side of her face; she's going to have a scar like mine." Zuko brought a hand up to touch at the burnt skin of his ear and eye and upper cheek. She stopped him before he could run his fingers over the flesh. She kissed his fingertips, she kissed his ear, she kissed his eye, she tried to kiss away each last bit of his old life. Their past had been eradicated by fire, burnt away, her brother and her friends and others she hadn't met and would never have the chance to meet turned to grey ash.

"We can't tell Ursa what she did."

"I know." Zuko tucked his head into the crook of her neck like their children had done when they were young and in need of comfort. She carded her fingers through his dark hair and ran her nails along his scalp soothingly, for the first time in years their life's purpose wasn't to defeat the Fire Lord. Now Zuko had a nation to rule, a nation that had hated him for nearly two decades, a nation that had once cheered when he was killed onstage in a simple, meaningless play.

"You're going to be a great Fire Lord. I believe in you." Everyone that mattered had once believed in Zuko, even those who were dead and in the spirit world had died believing he would bring the Fire Nation into a time of peace. "I do have some good news for you."

"What?" Zuko murmured into her neck, his breath moved hotly over her skin.

"I'm pregnant." She felt his smile against her flesh.

"We could name it after…."

"I think" She smoothed the back of his hair down with the palm of her hand. "we should come up with an original name."

Their lives had new purposes, and they were eager to begin.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter was worse then the others, it wasn't intended to be terribly exciting, more like a wrap-up. Please let me know what you thought. ;)**


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